:~)

nails & whales

More whales needed.

Matte-ventures

By 5:14 PM ,

Hey guys!

Haven't posted in a while, thanks to crazy exams (shout out to APs) and finals and just life. Besides testing, things have been pretty good lately, so I can't complain too much. :)

About nails, though. I finally got my first matte topcoat! I know – I've been seriously doing my nails for years, and I just purchased my first matte topcoat. And it's nothing too fancy (NYC Matte Me Crazy). What? I've been in love with matte-ified gradients for a while now, though, so the first mani I designed with the topcoat had to be a super simplistic pastel gradient. It features Floss Gloss Pony once again...I just can't get over how cool that neon pastel is.

(Indeed, I wore it on my toes to National Ocean Science Bowl, and as we were walking to our dorms post-sunset, the polish nearly glowed. The guys on my team commended it as "super cool" after staring at it for about ten seconds.)


And after all of that rambling, here's the actual mani! Again, super simple – three colors sponged over a white base. With matte topcoat. The mint-aqua blue shade, Essie Mint Candy Apple, takes on varying casts in different types of light. It can range from greenish mint to OPI What's With The Cattitude?-esque powder sky blue. 


Colors are adjusted in both photos, but they give a decent sense of how different MCA can appear in different lighting. In retrospect, I should've totally taken an angled shot to demonstrate how matte NYC MMC truly is. It's not as flat-out matte as Essie Matte About You, but it's not a leather/plastic finish either. MMC provides a sufficient matte effect, and it's not bad at under $2! Value. The brush is pretty decent, with a wider side and moderately stiff bristles that don't fan out terribly much. 


Here's a gradient I found on a blog for computer-generated gradients that happened to coincide with my color scheme. Pretty wild.

Polishes used:
  • Julep Hope – satin finish white creme
  • Floss Gloss Pony – neon peach pastel
  • Zoya Heather – light lilac creme (with imperceptible silver microshimmer)
  • Essie Mint Candy Apple – light aqua-mint creme
  • NYC Matte About You – matte topcoat
My new dilemma: how do I do my nails for senior ball? This is my second – and last – high school dance ever, so gotta make it good! I did a rhinestoned blue-black glitter gradient last year for Senior Ball 2014... My dress this year is a royal blue jersey Rachel Allan with a healthy amount of iridescent rhinestone beading, so I'll probably do something slightly more understated. Soon! Super excited for senior ball though.

Thanks for reading :)

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About the Author

Lover of everything manicure, oceanography, and neuroscience related. Bay Area, California.

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